Portable tree seat



Feb. 3, 1970 c, EHLERT ET AL 3,493,030

PORTABLE TREE SEAT Filed March 20, 1968 (I I .l .l I I I. I I II 1 I I II lll I R summ MEM Mmw Em LC YY MR mm H United States Patent US. Cl.182187 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE As one example of theinvention disclosed herein, easily-transportable seating apparatus isprovided with an outstanding horizontal plate having its forward edgeadapted for engagement against one side of an upright tree or woodenpost. A relatively-unstretchable cable or chain of sufficient length toencircle average-sized trees or posts is releasably secured to the rigidplate and at some distance to the rear of its forward edge. In thismanner, by snugly encircling a wooden support with the chain while theseating apparatus is temporarily tilted upwardly, downward pivotalmovement of the seating apparatus in relation to the wooden support willbe effective to further tighten the flexible member so as to drive theforward edge of the plate against the support for reliably securing theseating apparatus in a generally horizontal position thereon.

It is fairly common for hunters to construct permanent platforms orso-called stands in trees and the like as convenient places for hidingwithin shooting range of areas believed to be frequented by gameanimals. As will be appreciated, the construction of such platforms isbest done well before the hunting season to avoid frightening away wildgame. On the other hand, where such prior construction is not feasible,many hunters resort to light-weight seats adapted to be temporarilysecured in a selected tree. Although many seats of this nature have beenproposed heretofore, no seat has yet been devised that can be quicklybut reliably secured to even inclined trees as well as being of aconvenient size and weight for easy transportation.

Accordingly, it is an Object of the present invention to providelight-weight, portable seating apparatus that can be quickly, but stillunfailingly, secured to trees and other wooden upright supportsirrespective of either their size or the inclination of those that mightreasonably be selected.

This and other Objects of the present invention are attained byproviding seating apparatus having an outstanding, generally horizontal,support-engaging member with a bifurcated forward end that is spatiallydisposed above a second outstanding support-engaging member. A flexible,but relatively unstretchable, support-encircling member is adapted forconnection to the upper support-engaging member and at a distance to therear of its bifurcated forward end. In this manner, once the seatingapparatus is elevated to a desired position on the trunk of a tree, forexample, the rear of the apparatus is tilted in relation to the tree soas to incline the upper supportengaging member downwardly with itsbifurcated forward end engaged with one side of the tree. Then, afterthe intermediate portion of the flexible member has been looped fairlytightly around the tree and its end portions secured, the rear of theseating apparatus is lowered to bring the upper support-engaging memberinto a generally horizontal position and, in so doing, further tightenthe'fiexible member so that it will cooperate with the forward ends ofthe support-engaging members to positively secure the seating apparatusto the tree. By pivotally mounting the seat and including a footrest onthe lower support-engaging member, a hunter will be given added freedomof movement while safely seated thereon.

The novel features of the present invention are set forth withparticularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as toits organization and manner of operation together with furtherobjects-and advantages thereof, may best be understood by way ofillustration and example of a certain embodiment as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of apreferred embodiment of seatingapparatus incorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 3 illustrates a portion of the apparatus as it is being securedin position on an upright wooden support.

Turning now to FIGURES 1 and 2, seating apparatus 10 arranged inaccordance with the present invention is shown. In its preferred form,the seating apparatus 10 includes a centrally-located post or upright 11carrying a seat 12 and outwardlyextending upper and lower rigid members13 and 14 having their respective forward ends in generally verticalalignment with one another and adapted for cooperative engagement withone side of a tree, as at 15, or other wooden upright support. Tominimize the overall weight of the seating apparatus 10, theintermediate portion of the upper support-engaging member 13 is formedfrom rigid light-weight members, such as a pair of paralleled rods ortubes 16, carrying on their outer ends a fiat rigid plate 17 of steel orsuch with a widely-diverging notch 18 in its forward edge. To furtherinsure the rigidity of the upper support-engaging member 13, one or moredepending braces '19 are extended to the lower support-engaging member14 therebelow. In any event, it is essential to the present inventiononly that the upper and lower support-engaging members 13 and 14 berigidly interconnected to one another as well as to the remainder of theseating apparatus 10.

The terminal portions of a generally unstretchable, but fairly flexible,member such as a cable or a chain 20 are adapted for connection to thesupport-engaging plate 17 and, for reasons that will subsequently becomeapparent, at a significant distance to the rear of the notch 18 therein.Although the chain 20 can be secured to a single point midway in theplate 17, greater stability against sidewise tipping is obtained byconnecting the ends of the chain on opposite sides of the plate. Bothends of the chain can, of course, be releasably connected to the plate17; but, to prevent loss of the chain, it is best permanently connectedat one end, as by an eyebolt or fixed ring 21, along one side of theplate and releasably secured at its other end to an open ring 22 on theopposite side of the plate. In this manner, after the chain 20 isencircled around the tree 15, its effective length can be convenientlyadjusted by hooking the best-suited link over the open ring 22.

In its preferred form, the lower support-engaging member 14 is arrangedto be selectively adjustable over a limited range. To accomplish this,an elongated screw 23 is threadingly coupled to the lower member 14 andadapted for horizontal translation between an extended and a retractedposition. In this manner, the forward end of the screw 23- can beselectively positioned to so engage even an inclined support that theseat 12 will be generally horizontal. For purposes of further safety, agenerally horizontal, and preferably circular, footrest 24 is arrangedat a convenient elevation below the seat 12 and dependently supportedfrom the central post 11 by a plurality of struts 25.

Turning now to FIGURE 3, a partial view is shown of the support-engagingplate 17 and the chain 20 to illustrate the initial and final positionsof these members as the seating apparatus is being secured to the tree15. As shown in the phantom-lined portion of the figure, the seatingapparatus 10 is initially tilted upwardly in relation to the tree withthe notch 18 in the plate 17 against a selected side of the tree. Then,as shown by the arrow 26, once the chain has snugly encircled the tree15 and its free end is safely hooked into the open ring 22, the rear ofthe seating apparatus 10 is moved downwardly. It will be appreciated,therefore, that the downward movement of the seating apparatus 10 willbe effective to further tighten the chain 20 as the rings 21 and '22move in a generally arcuate path further away from the face of the treetrunk 15. In this manner, movement of the seating apparatus 10 into thefull-lined position will insure that the chain 20 and support-engagingmembers 13 and 14 cooperate to so tightly secure the seating apparatusin the tree 15 that the seating apparatus cannot be loosened or evenshift under any reasonably anticipated load while in use.

It will be understood, of course, that the spacing of the rings 21 and22 from the forward edge of the supportengaging plate 17 determines howtightly the chain 20 will be drawn as the seating apparatus 10 is movedinto its seating position. The most-effective toggling action providedby the cooperative relation of the connecting rings 21 and 22 to theforward edge of the plate 17 is, of course, realized where the center ofthe chain 20 on the backside of the tree 15 is just below or about onthe plane defined by the support-engaging plate in its final position.In this manner, when the seating apparatus 10 is moved downwardly, thechain 20 will be tightened; and then, when the plate 17 is horizontal,the chain will be pulling along a plane lying slightly below the pointswhere the forward edge of the plate 17 contacts the tree 15. Thus, thechain 20 will still be in its further-tightened state and will nowoppose upward movement of the rear of the seating apparatus 10. Thiswill, of course, positively immobilize the seating apparatus 10 toprovide complete stability of the apparatus. Moreover, the added weightof a hunter on the seat 12 will tend only to further tighten the chain20. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the lower support-engagingmember 14 and the lateral screw 23 prevent the seating apparatus 10 frommoving so far downwardly that the rings 21 and 22 are again so close tothe tree 15 as to loosen the chain 20.

In practice, it has been found that the chain 20 as well as the notchededge of the support-engaging plate 17 will tend to be embedded into thebark of the tree 15. If this is not accomplished, it is, of course,quite simple to restore the seating apparatus 10 to its initial inclinedposition and slip another link of the chain 20 over the open ring 22 asrequired to have the seat 12 fairly horizontal when the chain is fullytightened. The lateral screw 23 is, however, useful for insuring thatthe seat 12 comes to rest in a horizontal position even where the tree15 is inclined from the vertical.

Once the chain 20 and adjusting screw 23 have been appropriatelyarranged, it will be recognized that by virtue of the notch 18, thesupport-engaging plate 17 will be contacting the tree 15 at at least twohorizontallyspaced points along the forward edge of the plate.Simultaneously, the single point of contact made by the forward end ofthe adjusting screw 23 suflices to prevent the seat 12 from tippingfurther downwardly. Thus, with the contact of the plate 17 preventingsidewise tilting of the seating apparatus 10 as well, cooperative actionof the chain 20 and plate will be pulling these three points of thecontact against the tree 15 to securely fix the seating apparatus to thetree.

Since the seat 12 is preferably pivotally mounted on the central post11, a hunter seated thereon can easily traverse his body about thepivotal mount. Moreover, in view of the footrest 24, safe support isgiven to the feet of the hunter so that he will feel secure in his perchand be able to devote his full attention to his hunting activities.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from this invention in its broader aspects; and,therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changesand modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. Seating apparatus adapted for mounting on an upright wooden supportand comprising: upper and lower rigid members respectively extendingalong vertically aligned and spaced upper and lower lateral axes;bracing means rigidly interconnecting said upper and lower rigid membersto one another; upper support-engaging means on the forward end of saidupper rigid member and having a bifurcated forward edge defining ahorizontal fulcrum surface transverse to said upper lateral axis adaptedto engage a first surface along one side of such a support; lowersupport-engaging means on the forward end of said lower rigid member andadapted to engage a second surface along one side of such a support andbelow such a first surface thereof; a seat pivotally mounted on therearward end of said upper rigid member; a footrest mounted around therearward end of said lower rigid member and below said seat; and meansfor securely coupling said seating apparatus to such a support includinga flexible and relatively unstretchable member adapted to extend aroundthe opposite side of such a support and having end portions, firstconnecting means secured to an intermediate portion of said upper rigidmember between said fulcrum surface and said seat and dividing saidupper rigid member into rearward and forward portions, and secondconnecting means on said flexible-member end-portions adapted forcoupling to said first connecting means when said seating apparatus isinclined downwardly with said fulcrum surface of said uppersupport-engaging means against such a first surface on one side of sucha support and said flexible member is snugly extended around theopposite side thereof so that a downward force on said rearward portionof said upper rigid member will be effective to further tighten saidflexible member as said seating appanatus is pivoted about said fulcrumsurface to carry said first connecting means further away from such asupport and bring said lower support-engaging member also intoengagement with such a second surface thereon.

2. The seating appaartus of claim 1 wherein said flexible memberincludes a plurality of interconnected chain links providing said secondconnecting means, and said first connecting means are first and secondhooks secured to said upper rigid member on opposite sides of said upperlateral axis and respectively adapted for coupling to selected ones ofsaid chain links.

3. The seating apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lower support-engagingmeans include: an adjusting screw threadingly coupled to said lowerrigid member and adapted for translation along a lateral axis toposition said lower rigid member in relation to an upright woodensupport and said upper rigid member as required to orient said seat in adesired position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,206,574 11/1916 Miller 182-1871,993,320 3/1935 Dozier 182-187 2,074,586 3/1937 Heinrich 182-1873,065,821 11/1962 Hundley 182187 3,358,789 12/1967 Laun 182187 3,368,7252/1968 Martin 182-187 3,392,802 7/1968 Moore 182-187 3,396,818 8/1968Moragne 182187 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner

